Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston has discovered that she was raped ā and she is sharing her story to support other victims.
āMy agony has reason, my reason has electric power, I want to aim on the beneficial,ā she wrote Saturday on Instagram.
The reality star-turned-comedian, who appeared on Year 25 of āThe Bachelorā and starred in Season 17 of āThe Bachelorette,ā defined her decision to make her expertise public, crafting, āThe justice procedure proceeds to enable down victims just about every day. I refuse to sense defeated in the power it took to be an advocate for myself. I hope my encounter will assist those experience the toughness and support they have to have.ā
The 33-year-previous did not divulge details, such as when she was raped, describing that āwhile Iām not completely ready to share my tale, I want to share the valuable means that saved my daily life.ā Thurston did not specify if this was the same incident she explained on āThe Bacheloretteā as a āsituation wherever there was not consentā that took place about 10 decades prior to the showās 17th period was taped in 2021.
āI named 911 to report my rape. They despatched an officer to just take my statement and then drove me to a particular clinical middle to carry out a SART test,ā she commenced. SART refers to a Sexual Assault Reaction Team, which performs a forensic professional medical exam to accumulate evidence of rape. Thurston stated she was accompanied by a nurse and an advocate, whom she described as ākind,ā ānurturingā and āpatientā folks who āthoroughly explained the processā and guided her by way of it.
Thurston underwent STD screening, was offered crisis contraception treatment, antibiotics and write-up-publicity drugs to avoid HIV an infection. Her whole treatment, which includes therapy, was presented at āno cost,ā irrespective of her insurance policy status, she wrote.
She praised San Diego for their on the web SART assessment tracker, which allowed her to stick to the four-thirty day period development of her exam as it was analyzed and sent to regulation enforcement. Thurston satisfied with an āamazingā sexual assault therapist and connected with an advocate who was readily available to her 24/7.
āI did anything I need to have finished as a victim of rape,ā she wrote. āHere are my texts, my phone calls, my photographs, my videos, names, witnesses, areas, social media, time stamps, surveillance footage, DNA, my system.ā
Even so, Thurston explained, her scenario was āstopped.ā She did not specify why.
āThe justice program failed me,ā she wrote. āAnd proceeds to fall short hundreds every one day. But do not give up.ā
Thurston, who has also appeared on āBachelor in Paradiseā and āFBoy Island,ā took the time to recognize RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest Countrywide Community, which she lifted above $9,000 for in 2023 the California Victims Payment Board, which reimbursed the charge of her medicines and the book āKnow My Identifyā by Chanel Miller, which she praised for helping her navigate the lawful process and known as a must-examine for āevery single teen.ā
āBe your major advocate,ā she wrote. āYou are valued, you are robust, I feel you.ā